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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Memories of Geometry Class

INSPIRATION 2014 #75: Every now and then I see an image that reminds me of projects I did a long time ago ~ this is one of them. In 9th grade geometry class with Mr. Magala, he gave a yearly assignment out to every class to create either an icosahedron or a dodecahedron out of whatever material you chose. It became quite a contest as your grade was determined by your creativity as well as your craftsmanship. I was lucky that my Dad was an engineer and was great at figuring out how to make stuff and also had the tools to do it. So, I made my dodecahedron out of clear plexiglass, added colored sand, dirt and some plants for a terrarium ~ my Dad actually cut out the pieces (for safety reasons!), but I had to figure out the angles that would work. The down side of making something that Mr. Magala liked and gave a good grade for is that he kept those pieces, so alas, my dodecahedron is probably in a trash dump or antique mall by now!I have to mention that those who weren't so crafty had a hard time with this assignment ~ poor Pete S. ( I will protect his identity to avoid further humiliation!) ~ I imagine he did not get any help from a crafty Dad, so you have to give him credit for doing it all himself. But, Pete was not much of a craftsman and didn't use any interesting materials - just cardboard and black tape. Unfortunately, his dodecahedron came out in the shape of a football and had black tape sticking out at all angles ~ Mr. Magala ended up throwing it across the room ~ he was known and feared for this sort of thing. If you dropped your math book on the floor you had to pick it up and kiss it or if you were caught chewing gum and didn't have a piece for Mr. Magala, you had to wear it on your nose. Despite some of the humiliations, I have Mr. Magala to thank for teaching me all I know about geometry ~ he really was a great teacher!